Wizards Insider

Young's Dunks Bring Attention

Rookie Nick Young has thrown down several impressive dunks over opposing players lately, including ones over Toronto 7-footer Andrea Bargnani on Friday and Milwaukee 7-footer Andrew Bogut on Tuesday, but the most impressive play by Young this season was the dunk he put down over LeBron James back on Jan. 23 in Cleveland.

(To see it, go to www.youtube.com and enter "Nick Young" and "LeBron James.")

James jumped and tried to block the shot, but didn't go high enough and Young stretched out and threw it down. Young celebrated by letting out a loud howl. He expressed similar exuberance after his dunk over Bogut on Tuesday night, bringing a technical foul.

"It was my first," Young joked about his inaugural NBA technical. "I've been watching Antawn [Jamison] and DeShawn [Stevenson] get them, so it was like my welcome to the NBA moment."

Caron Butler, who earned his first technical for celebrating after a dunk during his first NBA game, says it is only a matter of time before Young takes such plays in stride.

"Three years from now, you'll see him do that and he'll just run right back down the court," Butler said. "I think he's going to be that type of player. He's going to be a guy who can go out and get you 20 points a night because he scores in effortless fashion. He knows how to score. He was doing it at USC and now it's transcending to the NBA game."